I’m not the biggest fan of bucket lists. I always get a little bored with mine, because as I change, you know, maybe I don’t want to backpack across Europe (Hostels? Wearing underwear more than once before i wash it? ew. I was over that the week after I grauduated High School) or something. I like New Year’s Resolutions a little more, they only have to remain interesting to me for a year, then I can onward and upward to something new, or keep them up if they’re working for me.
My resolution last year was to stop using plastic bags when I went shopping. I did really well, only slipping up a handful of times in the most desperate of circumstances, and then, the bags were reused and toted around until they were recycled. For some reason, I feel an enormous guilt when I get bags at the grocery store or Target or wherever, so that was a nice, double-edged sword of a change, PLUS my kitchen cabinet where I used to stash them stayed a little neater. Bonus. A NYR I’ll keep up with.
Other big doings of 2009?
Adoption is a two way street.
Finally! Something permanent.
Staying up late is usually worth the groggy morning.*
Making new friends is my Abby Getman.**
This year, I am going to try new things. I’m a brand-loyal customer, a creature of habit, a dweller at the very epicenter of my comfort zone. I can handle change pretty well, but I crave stability even when I can’t stand the circumstances of the routine I get stuck in.
My first new thing:
Move to California.
Obviously, this is a pretty big thing, you know? On the surface, it meant sorting out, packing up and moving all my shit more than 3,000 miles, then finding a suitable apartment, cat and boyfriend in tow, then unpacking all my shit and making a home. I think that’s what I’m looking for here, a home. I haven’t gone a single year without moving for the last six, and hope that I stay put in 2010. I’m a little tired of not having a place I can hang my hat, where I can have things just so, where I can look forward to going to after not being there for a while. I gather that most people have a place like that, whether it be where they grew up or where they live now, but I’m starting to think I’ve never really been happy in any living environment I’ve had in my short existence. I want a sense of “I’m so happy to be here” rather than “I’m so happy I’m not where I just was,” and I don’t think I’ve really felt that sentiment with much sincerity. Sooo, I did this.
A little dramatic, yes, and more than a little driven by some other exterior circumstances. And it’s totally scary because um, I don’t have friends here. I don’t have family here. I have Brian, and I have my cat and I think the three of us, after spending the last three weeks in a sort of solitary confinement, are starting to step on toes/paws now.
I think New Thing #1 is going to ultimately lead to most of the other New Things I try this year. I hope 2010 is about growth, confronting fears and getting what I want. What I want is happiness, a contentment that doesn’t imply complanceny or lethargy. I’m trying to strip away the things that are making me unhappy or uncomfortable, to find my core, to realize what means most to me. I want to find things in my life that I like, and I want those things to have precedence over things I don’t like. And I’m hoping this new area will inspire a sense of place for me, and help me get over this situational laziness that I’m guilty of.
Whew, blog confessional. Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Do you keep them? 
*Stolen from Katie-Jo’s Facebook profile. I can’t handle how cute this picture is, I didn’t have a better one myself.
** Stolen from Abby Getman’s Facebook profile, because I don’t really take a lot of pictures at the All-Star Sandwich Bar.